Track Down Siddiqui's Boss

It was breakfast in Freelancers Tavern, and in the back of the tavern, some Freelancers were breakfasting.  A group had returned the prior day from trying pollution-cleanup, and Arnari had declared the mission failed; but both Peb and Vin had gotten a gryphon for free, a reward that was hard to beat!  They were out taking their new gryphons for a ride.

In a corner, at a table against the wall, were two new faces:  Tobiah and Moulari, skilled thieves who had newly joined after having gotten their ass handed to them by Freelancers a few primes ago.  At one end of the long table, just within earshot, Aranel was relaying the events of the most recent mission to Dominic, Maghris, Damien, and others.  The way she described it, the entire thing was a lark, and the most tragic thing that happened was her skirts getting muddy, instead of Peb almost getting killed.

However her tale made Maghris' eye shine; the nekomata had been leery of such adventures since his demise and reincarnation many eighths ago.  Dominic, who was wiser, didn't miss the implications of her tale; the Freelancers had been lucky to survive two young gryphons defending their food.  Anyhow at Maghris' urging, the three of them decided to drop into Arnari's office to see what work there was to do.

As they entered Arnari's office, Dominic went to the map of Duquesne and studied it.  The map of Cliffshadow, new and nicely done, was by his hand.  Maghris realized the chairs were all rearranged, and panic'd a little; he finally spotted the chair he'd always sat in and sat in it.  Aranel sat in a normal chair, her posture graceful, ankles to the side as one does in skirts.

Arnari pressed her lips together, and didn't even bother setting aside her harp.  "For the three of you, I only have 3 missions," she started.

• Pirates River pollution cleanup, pays 100gp each + an uncommon potion, each.
• Also Haven Hills, find some hippogryph eggs.  100gp/egg, or if you find 10 get a hippogryph gelding.  Rarer eggs will pay more.
• Also find Siddiqui's boss – 100gp/person – stay around Cliffshadow.  Would be a little bit of a stealth, so the bard doesn't notice.

Arnari strummed her harp.

Maghris:  hey we can talk to those new Freelancers to see if they have any hints
Aranel:  what kind of sneaking are we talking about?  The rooftops?
Arnari:  more likely, checking out bars near the docks
Aranel:  what will that tell us?
Arnari:  maybe his name?
Aranel:  we captured Siddiqui, didn't he reveal more?
Dominic:  I'm okay, but not particularly sneaky
Maghris:  I'm fairly sneaky
Aranel <dignified>:  I'm okay to find a bard with a hot ass.

Everyone laughed, even Arnari, and she reminded the Freelancers of what the bard looked like:  half-elf, black hair, soul patch, hot ass.  He played flute, drum, shawm.

They went downstairs, where Tobiah and Moulari were still lingering over breakfast plates.

Maghris:  we're spose to figure out that bard with the hot ass, where he is, and what's his name.
Moulari <shrugged>:  only saw him the once
Aranel:  where were you when he talked to you?  That's as good a starting point as any
Tobiah:  saw him over at the Dredge Dump … he was not performing there.
Maghris:  any bardic competition this would be interested in?
Aranel:  not really
<The three on mission left the other two to go out the front of Freelancers Tavern.>
Dominic:  kind of wondering about setting up our own flute competition or something
Maghris:  jazz flute
Aranel <looked at Maghris, shook>:  what –

The Freelancers were silent for a bit as they walked east on Sparrowhawk Street to head towards the tavern district near the docks.

Aranel:  if he plays taverns, we only need to check bars with music
Maghris:  we can recruit for our tavern
Aranel:  what about Arnari?
Maghris:  it's a good story.
Aranel:  let's find out which bars here have music this evening!  Then we can check out if he's there.
Maghris:  can also ask around about him
Aranel:  then, he'll find out we're looking
Others:  no

The taverns weren't that far a walk; Freelancers Tavern was not in this district, but still accessible.  They just started checking all the taverns.

• The Blue Hedgehog had live music – jazz and blues – a pair of halflings booked for the night
• The Gull had no music
• Pitchfork had no music this night, but taiko the next
• Salty Buck – they had to go in, so Maghris asked the bartender, who snapped, "Are you stupid?  Of course we have music, dumbass cat."  The tavern had a respectable sized stage with bardificery equipment on it.  <Narrator voice:  Justin rolled a nat 1>
  • Maghris decided to get a beer for a couple copper and ask around about flute music, but nobody at the Salty Buck was interested.  One person took the question as a euphemism, and invited Maghris to the toilets, and the nekomata had to hastily apologize, "No, no, really interested in the flute," which did not help.
  • Dominic was paying attention to the gossip in the tavern.  Nobody was talking about the bard they were looking for, but they were talking about hookups, and the latest craze in bardificery.
• Blind Navigator – also had to go in, but they learned a set of bards was slated to perform that evening, drum, harp, flute.  Dominic suggested they start acting more inebriated than they actually were, and was surprised when Aranel was suddenly acting drunk.
• Ruddy Rat had music that evening, two bards, lute and dulcimer.
• Aftburner also had music, lyre and pan flute duo.

Well, that was quite a run through the nicer bars that served the airship crews passing through.  The Freelancers also did not see "Mr Hot Ass" either.  They decided to go back to Freelancers Tavern and return in the evening when it was closer to the time of music.  The Blind Navigator had acts going all evening, but all the others were post-dinner time.

At Freelancers, Aranel considered her clothes and the quality of the bars.  She went to the quartermaster and acquired more practical traveler's clothes for 2gp, albeit still with skirts, to look less out of place in other taverns expecting a lot of airship crew passing through.  The skirts potentially messed with the rapier draw but she could get that tailored later.

Dominic needed no such changes, but concerned he'd be drinking more than normal, he was sure to eat well.  Maghris checked on Blaze, his giant bat, wishing he was on an adventure that involved more flying around and less bar hopping.

Dinner time came and passed and Maghris, Dominic, and Aranel headed over to the Blind Navigator.  Aranel told the others, "We should also be watching for the press gangers; they can also lead us to him."

It was just barely early evening, and a firbolg was on stage playing a tiny flute.  He was very good at it, and it was only after a while that one noticed the flute was normal-sized, it just looked tiny in the firbolg's hands.

The Freelancers got drinks:  Aranel got a cider, Maghris had schnapps, Dominic had a beer which he nursed.  They listened to the gossip around them, given that the tavern was full of a wider variety of airship crew.  The crewmen were kibbitzing about the tavern name:  "wish my navigator was just blind," said one to his companion, who laughed and replied, "Not blind and stupid!" Others were gossipping about piracy.  One said too loudly, "Hope my captain talks to Skyguard.  'What are we payin' you for, man?'"

The bard they were seeking was nowhere in evidence.  Maghris, impatient, tried to get a server to tell him what the shawm player later looked like.  The server was astounded, "Why do you care what they look like?" and noted it was a human woman who played the shawm.

Maghris asserted, "I'm just really interested in the instrument," he emphasized, and Aranel gave him a look.  Frustrated, he said "help me out here, Aranel," so she grabbed the playbill from the center of the table.  "Here is a playbill, here is the name," she explained to Maghris, who clearly had never been to a performance in his life.  She smiled at the server who hid his own smile as he went about his duties.  "Thanks," Maghris told her.

The flute was nice, but would take a while before anything changed.  So Maghris the Impatient then proposed going to the Dredge Dump, until at least the other places' sets started.  They did so, but even dressed down Aranel was uncomfortable.  It was clear the Dredge Dump relied on the low light to hide that they didn't bother cleaning.  Someone sat in the corner, indifferently playing common melodies on the shawm.  Dominic got another beer, and he and Maghris noticed some deal going down in another corner.  The Freelancers decided to go elsewhere.

The next tavern they hit up was The Gull.  The establishment was full of a lot of people talking, and clearly had some regular, serious drinkers.  A dart board in the corner was occupied by people playing.  From the sign over the bar, The Gull's specialty was dark stout.

Maghris, entirely oblivious to the sign, asked about schnapps.  The barkeep, incredulous, rooted around under the bar and produced a dusty bottle of pear schnapps.  Maghris happily ordered some, and was even happier to discover it was actually good.

Dominic ordered a lite beer.  The barkeep, visibly unhappy, with him, produced a bad, old lite beer.  Dominic, grimacing, looked around as he sipped it, and realized the dart board was occupied by two rival airship crews, one from a mechanical airship, one from an air elemental one.  He spotted a small empty table and headed there.

Aranel ordered a stout and followed Dominic to the table.  It was pretty good.  She looked around the tavern.

Maghris told the bartender, "These peach schnapps are the best I had all night!"  The bartender gave him a look, then said shortly, "Do want another one?"  Maghris nodded, and the bartender served him up another pear schnapps.  Maghris headed to the table.

Aranel noticed someone watching the airship crew.

The human Aranel spotted had a slight build; he was wearing rather nice leather armour, serviceable but not really worn.  His companion was a bald human man with a scar on his head and face, and similarly attired.  At first glance, neither of them was obviously watching.  Aranel nursed her stout as Maghris got to the table with his schnapps.

Maghris:  maybe we should leave
Aranel:  not done with my stout.
Maghris:  oh.  Okay  <wandered off>
Dominic:  not done either.  <made a face at his lite beer>
Aranel <brightly>:  try one of these!  <lifted her tankard>
Dominic:  it's really bad.
Aranel:  really, try one of these!  <inclined her head slightly at the watchers>
Dominic:  …Oh.

Dominic went to the bar and got a stout, and took a sip, getting foam in his moustache.  His eyes widened, "Okay, yeah, you're right," he said, "give me the good stuff."  He brought the tankard back to the table, and drank it slowly, watching.

Aranel, unsure, checked if the two were just part of the airship crews uninterested in darts.  She concluded they were not:  their gear was not worn in the right places, and they had no windburn, unlike that sported by the airship crews.  

Maghris wandered around, Mr Zircon on his shoulder, listening for gossip.  He had not realized they were there for any other reason than Aranel finishing her stout.  As he wandered, the leather-clad watchers watched him too, but they were more looking at the dart game.

Aranel and Dominic both bought another stout, and Maghris became concerned.  "Keeping an eye on the time, right?  We should move to another establishment."  Dominic held up his tankard.  "Give me a minute, can't rush a good stout," he replied, "There's plenty to see here."

The nekomata frowned, then concluded Dominic wanted him to try to stout.  However Maghris wasn't nearly as adventurous as he thought he was, especially when it came to trying alcoholic beverages that weren't totally sweet.  He went to the bartender, and asked for a child's portion of the stout.  The bartender, with no comment, produced a double-shot glass and filled it with stout.

At this point another airship crew came into The Gull.  The leather-clad watchers straightened a little, watching them too.  People were coming and going to the privies, but nothing happened to them.

Aranel tried to use message to tell Maghris "we are watching nefarious people who might be after airship crew," but given how boisterous the tavern was Maghris didn't even notice she'd cast anything, he thought she just told him in normal bar voice.  Dominic leaned back and lit a cigar.  It went well with his stout.

The reason the bar was so boisterous is that one of the airship crews had decisively won the darts competition.  Cheering and grumbling filled the bar, and the bartender hid a smile as he wiped out more tankards.  The losing side had to buy both crews a double-round of Melampus Drops.  They were all entirely smashed.

The bald watcher looked at his buddy, then drained his drink and headed out the front door.  Dominic also rose and went out the front door, and wild shaped into a mangy-looking alley cat as soon as he stepped out of the light, into the blustery wind.  Alley-cat Dominic paced the scarred man as he turned down an alley and into an alcove where there were four burly guys: 2 sagani, a half-orc, a half-elf.  They all wore leather armour, and were armed with maces, ropes, and a net.  The group came out of the alcove, and set up near the entrance to the alley.

Dominic returned to The Gull and walked back in the front door, buttoning up his fly.  Maghris had joined Aranel, and had finally clued into why they were still there, but did not share with the others what he thought of the stout.

Dominic:  you remember not to engage, right?  There will be 5 thugs and 3 of us and drunken airship crew.
Aranel:  don't need to engage; want to avoid them getting press-ganged.
Maghris:  but if they are, we can follow them
Aranel:  and then what?
Maghris:  we get reinforcements?
Aranel:  we can follow them even if we foil the capture.
Maghris:  true, I'm sure others have been press-ganged.
Dominic:  I want them taken, and follow them.  It sucks for them, but they were going to be taken otherwise.
Aranel:  they will get hurt!
Dominic:  that's happening regardless.  We want to stop the whole damn thing.  We're here to gather information.
Aranel:  is there a place to conceal ourselves nearby?  If we leave after them, we'er going to engage; that's how that works.
<Dominic thought about the blustery weather.>
Dominic:  actually, I could cast dust devil and block their vision.
Maghris:  what will stop them from capturing the next group?
Aranel:  good point.
Maghris:  I could make them smell bad; Mr Zircon has to touch them.
Aranel:  could touch them from the floor
Maghris:  good idea!

The airship crews were telling tales to each other loudly about what had actually happened in this and prior dart competitions of yore, and the lone watcher was distracted by everyone to watch.  Mr Zircon easily floated over to his boot, and applied a stanky, sulfur smell, then faded back to Maghris.

The watcher made a face as the smell hit his nose, but at that point one of the airship crews start staggering to the door.  They almost spilled another table, loudly apologising.  Then a full 8 of them had left the bar and turned right.  The man with the slight build also staggered up and out, then went right.

Maghris and Aranel also left the bar, the latter weaving pretty convincingly.  Maghris dropped a little behind her.  Dominic waited perhaps 4 winks, draining his stout, then went outside, and wild shaped back into a cat.  The airship crew was a ways ahead, walking as a loose, raucous group, the leather-clad watcher roughly behind them.

The operation was smooth as glass.  The crew walked past the alley entrance; the wiry guy walking behind them shoved the trailing two into the alley; the others grabbed them and efficiently gagged and tied them up.  The 6 in front were too loud and drunk to notice at all.  Aranel glanced at them as she wove past, but kept going until she was out of line of sight.

Within 3 winks the captured airship crew were getting hustled down the alley, with a mangy alley-cat easily following the rotten-egg smell.  Aranel and Maghris were tracking Dominic – well, actually Maghris was tracking a different alley cat, and Aranel had to grab the nekomata before he took off for parts unknown.

Maghris:  but it looks just like him!
Aranel:  sshhh

The Freelancers followed; down an alley, through a side alley, down a main street.  They appeared to be heading towards Guildstrom.  The group didn't appear to be trying to evade a tail, but they were trying not to be seen, since they had two people under duress.

Eventually, right on the edge of Guildstrom, they got to a large cellar door.  They opened it up, went in, then shut the door.

That was an abrupt end to the Freelancers' trail.  They cased the building, and it was a typical Guildstrom setup:  1st floor business, apartments above, shared walls with other similar setups.  This row of buildings appeared to be mostly selling crafted goods, such as blacksmithing, leatherworks, or herbalism.  The building with the cellar door had a sign indicating leatherworking.

Dominic snagged a bat and cast animal messenger on it.  He sent the bat to Arnari with the message, "Tracked pressgangers with 2 victims to leatherworking shop.  Request instructions."

Freelancers Tavern was actually only about 5 minutes away as a bat flies, but isn't exactly open for random bats to fly in.  As they waited, Aranel and Maghris noted building ingress and egress.  Aranel also checked the windows for light, 2nd and 3rd floors had shades drawn, but some light; the 1st floor and basement emitted no light.  Maghris checked the roof for shingles.

Arnari cast sending at Dominic.

Good job, come back to tavern, we will rescue them tomorrow.

Dominic replied,

Ack, should we be keeping a watch?

He relayed this to the others.  After a rather long pause, Arnari cast sending at Dominic again.

Tobiah and Moulari be there for first watch, when they get there you can return.

Dominic didn't bother replying, but relayed to the others.  They continued to look around at the place until those two showed up, perhaps 10 minutes later.  It was not hard to find good places to watch, so Dominic, Maghris, and Aranel returned to Freelancers.

Arnari met them in the tavern and waved them up to her office.  As she handed out 90gp to each of them for the mission fee, she said, "Get a good night's sleep; we will go after these horrible pressgangers tomorrow.  Evie, Laki, and Aleki will take the next watch."